ROCHESTER – Thirteen months before state trooper Shane Roper was involved in a crash that killed an Owatonna high school student, he had been reprimanded for another on-duty wreck less than a half-mile away.
And like the fatal crash in May, Roper was cited in the previous incident for using excessive speed without emergency signals while in pursuit of a driver suspected of a petty traffic violation.
But the parallels between the two events end there.
On May 18, Roper slammed his squad car into the side of a vehicle attempting to make a turn at a busy Rochester intersection, killing 18-year-old Olivia Flores and seriously injuring five others. He was charged Tuesday with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide in Flores’ death and faces a total of nine charges related to the crash.
Before the wreck, Roper had been reprimanded by his supervisors four times in eight years for his role in crashes that happened while on duty. In each event, Roper was faulted for reckless or careless driving, according to public records obtained by the Star Tribune. In at least two of the incidents, he was found to have been traveling well above the speed limit without the use of his lights or siren.
Roper’s discipline for the four crashes amounted to two days of unpaid suspension and two written warnings.